Joe Root is the current No.1 Test batter in the latest ICC rankings, taking over from Harry Brook, who recently became the 78th batter to attain the top spot.
Brook’s reign at the top lasted a week after he attained the No.1 position last month following the Test series against New Zealand. He was succeeded by Root, who had first achieved the pole position back in 2015.
Overall, there have been 78 batters who have been No.1 in Test cricket, with the first batter to the spot being Australia’s Charles Bannerman back in 1877. There have been as many as 24 Australia batters who have been crowned No.1 in Test cricket, overall, closely followed by 17 from England. 12 batters from the West Indies have been at the top of the ICC rankings in Test cricket as well, with eight from India, four from Pakistan and two each from Sri Lanka and New Zealand also making the list.
The batter who held onto that spot for the longest time was Don Bradman, who was No.1 for 6,996 days, first reaching there in March 1931.
Full list of batters who have been No.1 in Test cricket
| Country | Player | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Charles Bannerman | 19 March 1877 |
| England | William Grace | 10 September 1880 |
| England | George Ulyett | 21 February 1882 |
| Australia | Percy McDonnell | 07 March 1882 |
| England | Allan Steel | 25 July 1884 |
| England | Arthur Shrewsbury | 23 July 1886 |
| Australia | John Lyons | 02 February 1892 |
| England | Andrew Stoddart | 02 January 1895 |
| Australia | Frank Iredale | 05 January 1898 |
| Australia | Joe Darling | 02 March 1898 |
| England | Tom Hayward | 18 August 1899 |
| Australia | Clem Hill | 05 January 1902 |
| Australia | Victor Trumper | 02 June 1905 |
| England | Stanley Jackson | 28 July 1905 |
| England | Jack Hobbs | 25 January 1910 |
| South Africa | Aubrey Faulkner | 11 January 1911 |
| South Africa | Herbert Taylor | 20 February 1923 |
| England | Herbert Sutcliffe | 08 February 1928 |
| Australia | Don Bradman | 03 March 1931 |
| England | Denis Compton | 20 December 1948 |
| England | Len Hutton | 17 August 1949 |
| South Africa | Dudley Nourse | 04 January 1950 |
| Australia | Neil Harvey | 10 February 1953 |
| West Indies | Everton Weekes | 07 March 1956 |
| West Indies | Clyde Walcott | 30 March 1955 |
| England | Peter May | 11 June 1956 |
| Australia | Colin McDonald | 17 November 1959 |
| West Indies | Garry Sobers | 04 January 1959 |
| England | Ken Barrington | 31 May 1965 |
| West Indies | Rohan Kanhai | 13 January 1966 |
| Australia | Bill Lawry | 12 March 1969 |
| Australia | Doug Walters | 08 November 1969 |
| South Africa | Graeme Pollock | 23 February 1970 |
| Australia | Keith Stackpole | 14 August 1972 |
| New Zealand | Glenn Turner | 12 March 1974 |
| Australia | Ian Chappell | 01 August 1973 |
| India | Gundappa Viswanath | 26 February 1975 |
| West Indies | Alvin Kallicharran | 02 December 1975 |
| Australia | Greg Chappell | 07 January 1976 |
| West Indies | Viv Richards | 12 July 1976 |
| India | Sunil Gavaskar | 05 December 1978 |
| Pakistan | Javed Miandad | 13 December 1983 |
| West Indies | Clive Lloyd | 14 December 1983 |
| Australia | Allan Border | 20 March 1984 |
| England | David Gower | 02 September 1985 |
| West Indies | Gordon Greenidge | 30 July 1984 |
| India | Dilip Vengsarkar | 30 December 1987 |
| West Indies | Richie Richardson | 28 February 1990 |
| England | Graham Gooch | 10 June 1991 |
| West Indies | Brian Lara | 20 April 1994 |
| India | Sachin Tendulkar | 22 November 1994 |
| West Indies | Jimmy Adams | 14 February 1995 |
| Pakistan | Inzamam-ul-Haq | 19 February 1995 |
| Australia | Steve Waugh | 03 May 1995 |
| India | Rahul Dravid | 06 January 1999 |
| Zimbabwe | Andy Flower | 11 September 2001 |
| Australia | Adam Gilchrist | 07 October 2002 |
| Australia | Matthew Hayden | 15 October 2002 |
| England | Michael Vaughan | 16 April 2003 |
| Australia | Ricky Ponting | 30 December 2003 |
| South Africa | Jacques Kallis | 10 January 2005 |
| Sri Lanka | Kumar Sangakkara | 05 December 2007 |
| Australia | Mike Hussey | 27 May 2008 |
| West Indies | Shivnarine Chanderpaul | 15 December 2008 |
| Pakistan | Mohammad Yousuf | 08 July 2009 |
| Pakistan | Younus Khan | 25 February 2009 |
| India | Gautam Gambhir | 28 November 2009 |
| Sri Lanka | Mahela Jayawardene | 20 November 2009 |
| India | Virender Sehwag | 18 February 2010 |
| South Africa | AB de Villiers | 27 October 2013 |
| Australia | Michael Clarke | 26 November 2012 |
| South Africa | Hashim Amla | 05 February 2013 |
| Australia | Steve Smith | 15 June 2015 |
| England | Joe Root | 10 August 2015 |
| New Zealand | Kane Williamson | 17 November 2015 |
| India | Virat Kohli | 04 August 2018 |
| Australia | Marnus Labuschagne | 20 December 2021 |
| England | Harry Brook | 10 December 2024 |
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